The Relationships between High School Sports Participation, High School Completion, and College Enrollment for African-American Males

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Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore the direct, indirect, and total effects of high school sports participation on high school completion and college enrollment for African-American males using a large, nationally representative, longitudinal database (ELS:2002). The lens through which this phenomenon is viewed in this study is the sports-impedes-mobility hypothesis (Braddock, 1981). A path analysis procedure for determining underlying causal relationships between variables was presented for six different sports participation models.
The only sports participation variable to have a significant effect on either high school completion or college attendance was that of junior varsity sports participation significantly influencing (totally) high school completion and (indirectly) college attendance for African-American males. The effect was positive.
While the implications of the results of this study are relevant for all who work with this population, school counselors are specifically highlighted.